Questions hang over Maley resignation

He resigned from his post of 11 months on Monday night, hours after asking News Corp Australia for more time to respond to questions put to him on Friday about business dealings with a former client before he was appointed to the bench last September.

His solicitor has said he will sue if the story is published.

Chief Minister Adam Giles and Attorney-General John Elferink say Mr Maley resigned to return to private practice and deny any knowledge of the questions put to him by News Corp.

"It is simply unbelievable that (they) do not know the reasons behind the resignation of a magistrate they appointed, a magistrate they have admitted is a friend of theirs and has been a close, internal member of the CLP," Opposition Leader Delia Lawrie told reporters on Wednesday.

A former Country Liberal Party (CLP)MLA, Mr Maley did not leave the party until May, eight months after his appointment to the bench, after he was spotted handing out how-to-vote cards at the Blain by-election.

It was also revealed he was a director of research organisation Foundation 51, which the Labor opposition has called a CLP slush fund.

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In 2012 he made a $5000 donation to the re-election campaign of Mr Elferink. Maley was appointed as magistrate not long afterwards in a cabinet decision that Mr Elferink says he excluded himself from due to their friendship.

In May, Palmer United Party MLA Larisa Lee told the NT parliament under privilege that Mr Maley tried to convince her to stay in the CLP by offering her inducements.

Mr Elferink said he was aware of rumours about Mr Maley but would not address them.

"Maybe the job didn't suit him," he said.

Former CLP minister and leader of the PUP NT, Alison Anderson, was the first to raise questions about Foundation 51.

The government has since May refused to hold an inquiry into political donations but was caught off-guard last week when the three members in the chamber failed to vote down a motion to have one.

The chief minister has indicated the inquiry will go ahead but the government may still try to have the motion rescinded.

If that happens, "it'll send a message to Territorians that they're hiding something and are a pack of buffoons," Ms Anderson said.

"They'll go all the way to try to block it but it will show the thuggery and arrogance of this government."

She said political donations need to be examined.

"We're not prepared to put up with this issue, where people are donating to the two major parties and then coming back for rewards, saying, `I want this piece of land, can you rezone this for us'. That sort of stuff has just got to stop."